From Snails to SPARTANS!

"A lot of you are gonna have gray hairs after this year. That means you're doing it right" - TFA staff

Can you believe it? In a little over two weeks, approximately 180 9th graders will walk into my classroom on their first day in the big leagues (high school!). I was ECSTATIC to receive my assignment of five sections of 9th grade English Honors at Cimarron-Memorial High School, home of the SPARTANS. That's right, from snails (at Madeira) to spartans. I have gone through quite the transformation to say the least!

After signing my contract I am officially a Clark County School District teacher (cue the applause and jumps for joy!) I have never filled out so much paperwork in my life, but the fingerprinting and I-9's were all worth it because I get the opportunity to be that incredible 9th grade teacher who changes the trajectory of my student's high school experience. As honors students I know they have the potential to change their school's statistics, graduation rates, ranking within the state and even county. I will be able to create truly rigorous questions that challenge my students to go above and beyond what they THINK they are capable of this year.

On one of our session-free days I toured the school and was able to see inside my classroom! Sadly I have no windows, but the size is great and I even have a smartboard! I feel very lucky to have plenty of space for the activities I am envisioning for my 14 and 15-year-olds! The back wall is entirely blank so I can easily put up black butcher paper for a "Chalk Talk" graffiti wall. And the multiple white boards will be great for splitting the class into teams and guiding them through speed-brainstorming and peer editing!

If you have fabulous activities or projects YOU remember from your high school english classes, let me know! I'd love to incorporate them!

 In non-school related news, I was officially hired by the gold's gyms of Las Vegas as a spin instructor (subbing to start)! It is so important to me to get to know the north-vegas community and invest myself in the people living in and around my school. This was a huge realization I had this summer with my Los Angeles students. Anytime I was able to bring up events or issues affecting their community, their interest skyrocketed. I'm truly looking forward to seeing my students outside of the classroom, at football and soccer games, at their jobs, or just at the grocery store.

My brother will be in town for a bachelor party this weekend so I'll be able to see him on Saturday and then my mom and sister are visiting next week! I'm feeling very loved and excited to share my life here in Vegas with family and friends in the near future.

Sending love and sunshine to all,

Danielle